Martin takes pole at penultimate Scottish Formula Ford meeting

Ross Martin continued his qualifying dominance in Scottish Formula Ford, beating Jordan Gronkowski to pole by 0.764s in damp conditions.

Without delay, Martin went out first, streaking away from the pack and topping the timesheets throughout, making up over six seconds as the Knockhill track surface began drying out from a rain shower immediately preceding qualifying.

This caught out returning 2014 champion Ciaran Haggerty, who is making his first racing appearance in any series this year.

Driving the MCK Motorsport-prepared Mygale used by James Clarke earlier this season, Haggerty looped his car exiting Duffus, though went on to qualify third, 1.067s off Martin’s pole time.

Gary Sykes surprised by competing with Gronkowski for second place during much of the session, before Haggerty demoted him to fourth after the chequered flag fell.

At one point Neil Broome looked set to share the front row with Martin, setting a time which even after Gronkowski’s last lap improvement would have been good enough for third. However, his fastest time was deleted for exceeding track limits, so had to nail his last lap to jump from eight to fifth.

Matthew Chisholm was an uncharacteristic ninth, slowest of all and 2.773s off Martin’s pole time. Though running the oldest car in the field, a Van Diemen RF92, he has typically challenged the top five regularly throughout this season.